Game and Fish discusses doe limit

Thursday, August 14, 2003

There seems to be some confusion over the number of does that may be taken during the upcoming deer season in Arkansas. A few hunters are asking about the implications of the one-doe limit in regard to special Arkansas Game and Fish Commission wildlife management area hunts.

The statewide doe bag limit is one. Even though a WMA and a Deer Zone are separate zones and may have different harvest restrictions, hunters cannot kill more than one doe combined, AGFC Wildlife Assistant Chief Doyle Shook said. "If you have already killed a doe by archery before a WMA hunt or before the zone doe-quota permit is valid, you cannot kill a doe during the WMA permit hunt, nor can you use the zone doe-quota permit."

Here's an example for hunters: If a hunter has killed a doe with a bow on Oct. 1 and he has a zone doe-quota permit for Deer Zone 11 or a WMA permit such as the one used at Fort Chaffee (which allows a hunter to take a doe or either sex), he is not allowed to take another doe because he has killed a doe during the archery season. No more than one doe can be taken in an individual's bag limit.

Another example: If a hunter kills a doe by a zone doe-quota permit and has a permit for a later either-sex WMA hunt, the hunter will have to buck-only hunt because he has filled his doe bag limit.

Statewide, the season bag limit is three deer. A season bag limit may contain two legal bucks and one doe. Hunters must obey zone and WMA restrictions and may hunt in different zones and WMAs as long as the statewide season bag limit is not exceeded.

In zones 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 10 or 11, the bag limit is the same (two legal bucks and one doe) but before taking a doe a hunter must have a zone doe-quota permit. Zone doe-quota permits are not valid on WMAs that lie within the boundaries of zones 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 10 or 11. The bag limit for archery is the same as the statewide limit. A zone doe-quota permit is not required to take a doe unless a hunter is in zones 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 10 or 11 when a firearms deer season is open.